Parts of a Coconut – Labeled Diagram, Husk to Water

All 10 parts on the diagram

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The fruit cut in half 7

Skin (exocarp) The thin, hard outer skin of the fruit. Botanists call it the exocarp.
Husk (mesocarp) The thick layer of fibers, called coir. Botanists call it the mesocarp.
Shell (endocarp) The hard, woody layer around the seed. Botanists call it the endocarp.
Seed coat A thin brown layer between the shell and the meat.
Meat (endosperm) The white part people eat. It is the solid endosperm of the seed.
Coconut water The clear liquid in the hollow. It is the liquid endosperm.
Embryo The baby plant, a small peg in the meat under one eye.

Eyes and sprout 3

Eyes (germination pores) Three pores at one end of the shell. Two are plugged and one is soft.
Coconut apple (haustorium) A spongy ball that grows from the embryo and fills the hollow.
Shoot It pushes out through the soft eye and the husk. Then it grows up.

How this list was compiled: Every name was checked on 2026-09-30 against sources read that day; a name is kept only when two of them use it. (1) Wikipedia, text only: Coconut, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut (the fruit a drupe with three layers: the exocarp, the glossy outer skin; the mesocarp, a fiber called coir; the two together the husk; the endocarp the hard shell, with three germination pores on one end, two plugged, the eyes, and one functional; inside the shell a thin brown seed coat; the liquid endosperm, coconut water, and the solid endosperm, coconut meat; the small cylindrical embryo in the solid endosperm below the functional pore; on germination the embryo pushes out of that pore and forms a haustorium in the hollow, which absorbs the solid endosperm; the palm's pinnate leaves, smooth trunk and fibrous roots). (2) Library of Congress, Everyday Mysteries, Is a coconut a fruit, nut or seed?, https://www.loc.gov/everyday-mysteries/agriculture/item/is-a-coconut-a-fruit-nut-or-seed/ , read in the Internet Archive copy (a fibrous one-seeded drupe with exocarp, mesocarp, a fibrous husk, and endocarp, the hard woody layer round the seed; the endosperm the white part that is eaten; three pores, also called eyes; a shoot emerges from one of the pores and is fed by the endosperm; loosely a fruit, a nut and a seed). (3) Edward Chan and Craig R. Elevitch, Cocos nucifera (coconut), Species Profiles for Pacific Island Agroforestry, 2006, https://agroforestry.org/images/pdfs/Cocos-coconut.pdf (from outside in: exocarp, a thin hard skin; the mesocarp, a fibrous husk; hard endocarp shell; white endosperm kernel; a cavity filled with liquid, water; three micropyles or eyes, one soft, marking the embryo; in the germinating seed, the haustorium, often named the apple; germination shown by the shoot coming through the husk; a crown of fronds on a single unbranched stem). (4) Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Agritech Portal, Coconut botany, read in the Internet Archive copy, https://web.archive.org/web/20230627223453/https://agritech.tnau.ac.in/horticulture/horti_pcrops_coconut_botany.html (the fibrous outer layers the husk; the endocarp very hard, forming the shell; a thin seed coat; the white flesh and the liquid both endosperm). Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain curves; own work, nothing traced. The layers are thicker than life. Licence: own work

How it works

The parts of a coconut are layers. From the outside in: a thin skin, a thick husk of fibers, a hard shell, a thin seed coat, the white meat and a hollow of coconut water.

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From the skin to the water

The first drawing is a whole coconut cut in half with the husk still on. Shops sell the nut with the skin and husk taken off, so most people only see the shell. Inside the shell, the meat and the water are both food stored for the embryo, the small peg at one end.

Eyes and sprout

The second drawing shows the three eyes at one end of the shell. When a coconut sprouts, the shoot comes out through the soft eye, and a spongy ball called the coconut apple grows into the hollow and takes up the meat.

Two eyes are plugged and one is soft. The embryo sits in the meat just under the soft one.
Husk fiber has its own name, coir. It is used for rope and doormats.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a coconut?

Seven layers and parts from the outside in: the skin, the husk, the shell, the seed coat, the meat, the coconut water and the embryo. The shell also has three eyes at one end.

What are the parts of a coconut tree?

A single trunk with no branches, a crown of long feather-shaped leaves called fronds, flower clusters that become bunches of coconuts, and a mass of thin roots. The palm tree page labels them.

Is a coconut a fruit, a nut or a seed?

To a botanist it is a drupe, a fruit with a hard layer around one seed, like a peach. In loose everyday terms it can be called all three.

What are the three holes in a coconut?

They are germination pores, often called eyes. Two are plugged. The third is soft, and the shoot grows out through it when the coconut sprouts.

What is inside a sprouted coconut?

A spongy ball called the coconut apple, or haustorium. It grows from the embryo, fills the hollow and absorbs the meat to feed the young plant.